OVEREXPRESSION OF AN ASPARTIC PROTEASE INCREASES DROUGHT TOLERANCE IN ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA

D'IPPÓLITO S; FREY, MARÍA EUGENIA; TONON, CLAUDIA VIRGINIA; MARÍA G. GUEVARA.

Congreso; LIV Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular; 2018

Sociedad Argentina de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular

In last years, it has been reported that plant aspartic proteases might have a role in the adaptation of plants to an environment with less water availability. In our laboratory we determined that an A. thaliana gene that encodes for an aspartic protease (At1g11910) is expressed in guard cell and that is induced under deficit water conditions and that At1g11910 mutant plants were more susceptible under water stress conditions. The general aim of this work was to evaluate the drought tolerance in At1g11910 overexpressing A. thaliana plants. We compared the response of Col-0 and At1g11910 overexpressing plants in a mild water deficit condition (MWD). Seedlings of 14 days were putted in pots with an equal substrate quantity and were watered until saturation during 10 days. Then, treated plants were watered until reached a 26% of the maximum substrate capacity during the next 20 days. We evaluated the phenotype of each plant under stress conditions and quantified different hydric parameters. Our results indicated that overexpressing plants were more tolerant than Col-0 to a MWD. These plants showed an increment in the total area leaf and had a lower water loss (60%) and consumption (25%). In addition, we observed that At1g11910 overexpressing plants showed a reduction in the stomatal aperture even before to be treated with the stomata closure-inducing hormone ABA.These results allow us to suggest that At1g11910 would participate in the tolerance to drought. Currently we are completing the characterization of this gene to understand the molecular mechanisms that could be involved in this process.